Address:    1801 Poyntz Avenue
                     Manhattan, Kansas  66502

Telephone:     785-776-5282

       Email:    jfallin@ksu.edu

Homepage:   Jana's Work Page
                    KSU Department of Music
                    Kansas State University

Jana Rudolph - 1964

Jana Fallin - 2001

Jana's Scrapbook:  MANHATTAN (Kansas) - Nothing helps make Jana (Rudolph) Fallin’s day more than to hear from former students who are still in the field she helped prepare them for: teaching music.  “The real test of my teaching is what I see coming out of my students’ teaching. If my students aren’t doing well, I’m not doing well,” said Fallin, a professor of music and division chair for music education at Kansas State University. “I do think teaching is important and to do it well is critical.”

Her colleagues at K-State think Fallin is doing an exceptional job as a teacher. She has been selected as the 2002 - 2003 University Chair for Distinguished Teaching Scholars. The award includes a $2,500 addition to her base pay, release time, a graduate teaching assistant and a one-time allocation of $2,500 in state operating funds. Fallin is the eighth recipient of the award and the first honoree from the arts. 

Fallin joined K-State in 1988 as an associate professor and division chair for music education and was promoted to full professor in 1994. A two-time winner of the William L. Stamey Award for Teaching Excellence from K-State’s College of Arts and Sciences, Fallin specializes in the teaching of future music teachers, particularly for the K-6 level. “She’s absolutely electrifying in terms of her enthusiasm,” said Paul Hunt, professor and head of K-State’s ‘department of music. “I’ve read countless student evaluations an~ they’re usually bowled over by her. She has an absolute mastery of the material. She understands what it takes to be a teacher at the K-6 level, as well as beyond. She’s also innovative. She does interesting and engaging activities in terms of teaching students how to teach music.”

Caring about her students and wanting to them to succeed are the motivation Fallin cites for her effectiveness as a teacher. “As a teacher, you really have to care about the learner,” Fallin said. “I remember hearing one teacher say, ‘I just love teaching but I don’t love the students.’ But to be a good teacher you have to love the kids; you have to love the subject area. It’s very hard to teach when you don’t know your subject. You also have to keep in mind that you’re never finished teaching. There’s always more to learn and to pass on.”

Fallin views one of her best accomplishments as helping the music education program, offered through the department of music in the College of Arts and Sciences in conjunction with the College of Education, in producing quality students. “We’ve had a 100-percent placement rate in the music education program for the last 14 years,” she said. “Our students always have multiple opportunities when they graduate. This program trains teachers and it shows. We have quality students and their teaching is effective. I’m very proud of them.” Fallin’s primary teaching responsibilities are Teaching Participation in Music, where she supervises student teachers in area schools; Music for Elementary Teachers; Music in the Schools, K-6; Music in the Schools, 7-12; Advanced Studies in Music education; and Seminar in Music Education. She also teaches graduate courses, Seminar in Elementary Music and Howard Gardner’s Theories of Multiple Intelligences. She advises students in the bachelor’s and master’s music education programs and students in the doctorate program in curriculum and instruction.
In addition, she is the designer and director of K-States annual Summer Music Symposium. Now in its 14th year, the symposium brings music teachers’ of all levels from across Kansas to the K-State campus for a week of educational and professional activities. “We gather to discuss ways to better teach music,” she said.

As K-State’s teaching scholar, Fallin will spend the next school year promoting excellence in undergraduate teaching and learning. She plans to develop a CD-ROM about effective undergraduate teaching at K-State that can be used by faculty interested in learning ways to become better teachers. “The CD-ROM will provide examples of exemplary teaching on campus. I want to include lots of different learning environments - small lecture classes, big lecture classes, lab classes and more. I also want to showcase exceptional faculty from each college,” she said. “Dr. Fallin has put together an exciting project for her year as chair, and I am looking forward to seeing the CD-ROM she plans to create that will include examples of effective undergraduate teaching strategies being used a K-State,” Coffman said.

“I’m just delighted with the opportunity to serve as K-State’s University Chair for Distinguished Teaching Scholars,” Fallin said. “I’m also thrilled that music education is viewed in this esteemed light. It points to the fact that music education has viability as a scholarly endeavor. “It seems that music education is always at risk in our elementary and secondary schools today.  It’s viewed more as a frill when it should be at the very core of education. Music education in schools is important. Research has shown music engages the brain. It has a cultural impact, too, and touches our past, present and future. Music can make for a powerful learning experience,” she said.

(After receiving her bachelor’s degree in music education from Baylor University, Waco, Texas, Jana Rudolph Fallin worked as an elementary school music teacher in her native Texas for five years before returning to college to earn a master’s and a doctorate in music education, both from the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to joining K-State, she served as an associate professor of music education at the University of Northern Iowa; and as an assistant professor at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Peabody College end at Vanderbilt University. A former resident of Coleman, Texas, Fallin is the sister of Frances Lee Galey and Baker Rudolph, both of Coleman. Their parents were the late Mr. and Mrs. Fred B. Rudolph, also of Coleman. She is married to David Fallin, the son of James and Lillian Fallin of Ruston, Louisiana. David Fallin’s sister, Donna Waltz, also lives in Ruston.)